Apple’s New Store at Grand Central

Every now and then a day falls upon us that you know you are never going to forget. Today was that day for ten of thousands of people at the opening of the largest Apple Store at Grand Central Station. Might be one of the biggest grand openings a retail store has ever had. Celebrities from Michael J. Fox and Brooke Shields to comedians like Whoopi Goldberg and Jimmy Fallon attended this extraordinary event. The amazing thing about Apple is that its one of the only businesses that can keep more of the spotlight on it then the celebrities browsing it. The Press was way more interested in 300 plus staff and the plush Ipads and other slick gadgets that were displayed all over this mammoth store. Apple opened their biggest store in NYC at Grand Central on Friday, December 9th, 2011. Apple has four other locations that cater to the residents of Manhattan. This 23000 square foot store will serve to the several hundred thousand commuters coming in and out of the terminal everyday. Bottom line folks, whether you have switched over to the Apple ecosystem or not, this store, on day one for business is an instant NYC attraction. The technology giant signed a 10 year lease with the MTA and forked up 5 million dollars to ask Charlie Palmers Metrazur Restaurant to vacate early and the restaurant did just that. Apple, being the attraction that they are will not share any portion of the revenues with the MTA as other retailers do.

Additionally Apple will pay 800,000 dollars the first year for rent and will go up each year after that. A lot of tenants think Apple received a stellar deal. The MTA could not be happier landing one of the most prominent tenants in the world and will be hiking rents up by 4 times in the east balcony and adjacent areas. This store location was carefully selected with its upscale commuter cliental and the best in business surrounding them in all those commercial buildings hovering around the Terminal. The store is strategically situated and understands everybody is on the go; customers will even be able to swipe themselves out never dealing with any customer service at all. For those that want more attention, have no fear, there are three genius bars there and that’s additional to the already staffed army that’s employed. To put it mildly, Apple has full court advantage in this commuter hub. Hours of operation Monday – Friday, 7am – 9pm, and for Saturdays and Sundays, hours are 11am to 6pm.
Location: Grand Central Station